Greatest Liverpool XI Steven Gerrard has ever played with

The best possible XI the legendary midfielder has played with since he made his debut in 1998…

In honour of Steven Gerrard’s testimonial against Olympiakos, fanatix has put together an ‘all time Steven Gerrard XI’ including the best players the legendary midfielder has played with since making his debut in 1998.

In goal, Pepe Reina walks it. Despite being sent on loan to Napoli this season the Spanish keeper is head and shoulders above any other stopper Gerrard has played with over the past decade – including Champions League winning Jerzey Dudek.

In defence, cult hero John Arne Riise takes the left-back spot, miles ahead of Djimi Traore and Jose Enrique, but only mildly beating Alvaro Arbeloa who performed so well for Liverpool in the position.

Steve Finnan‘s defensive capabilities means he beats Glenn Johnson and Marcus Babbel to the right-back slot. The Irishman was rock-solid for the Reds between 2003 and 2008.

Talented Dane Daniel Agger is unlucky to miss out at centre-back to Premier League legends Sami Hyypia and Jamie Carragher. Both were outstanding during the entirety of Liverpool’s Champions League win in 2005.

The brilliant Xabi Alonso starts alongside the battling Javier Mascherano in midfield, just as they did during Liverpool’s highest Premier League points season in 2008/09. The pair were fantastic in memorable 4-0 and 4-1 wins over Real Madrid and Manchester United respectively that season. Dietmar Hamman is unlucky to miss out to Mascherano, as is Scottish legend Gary McAllister. Alonso though, is comfortably the best central midfielder Gerrard has played with during his Liverpool years.

While Steve McManaman is arguably the best winger Gerrard has ever played alongside, three strikers earn spots in this line up due to their fantastic records for the Reds. Michael Owen won a Ballon D’or in 2001, and was instrumental in Liverpool’s UEFA Cup, League Cup and FA Cup triumphs that year. Fernando Torres was rightly regarded as the best striker in world football during his peak years at Liverpool, which eventually saw Chelsea shell out a £50m British record transfer fee for his services. The enigmatic Luis Suarez wins a spot in this side on talent alone. Despite his regular controversies, Gerard has described Suarez as the best player he’s ever played with. High praise indeed when you look at some of the other names in this side!